Teach English in Thailand with CIEE

I first heard about the CIEE Teach Abroad program after I studied abroad with CIEE in 2014. After I graduated from college, I committed to teach in Thailand for one semester. I was nervous about moving halfway across the world, managing a large classroom and adjusting to the culture. Any fear I had about teaching and traveling abroad quickly disappeared given the constant support CIEE provides. I am happy to say I have made great friends in my community. I value my teaching experience and know I am learning as much from my students as they learn from me. When I am not at school, I explore provinces across Thailand, work on my Thai conversational skills and engage with other teachers along the way. I enjoy blogging about my experience as an official CIEE blogger and have found it to be a very therapeutic outlet. I am so happy with my experience that I have decided to stay and teach for a second semester! This experience is invaluable and the best decision I have ever made!

I will try to put into words how amazing it feels to be in Thailand, teaching English. I welcome Khlong Lan Wittaya's students with a smile and cup of coffee in hand every morning. In return, I see smiles and hear "goodmorning teacher!" The community has embraced me in a way that I never imagined. I feel like I have several families here who constantly invite me to dinners and on adventures. They ask me if I am homesick and I can honestly say "no" because I feel right at home, thanks to them. My life is so simple and I do everything I've always wanted to do in one day. I have time for what really matters and what I truly love to do. Thanks to CIEE, I feel fully supported and confident in their services. They helped me reach my current state of complete bliss, by holding my hand through the application and assimilation process. CIEE gave me the confidence to travel across the globe and pursue a dream I've always had.

Teaching abroad with CIEE Teach Abroad was the best thing I ever did. After I received my master's degree, I wanted to travel, but I wanted to travel with meaning. CIEE Teach Abroad helped me do just that! I loved that they took care of all the tricky stuff -- housing, my visa, school placement, they offered an in-country orientation upon arrival, and pre-departure assistance and an online course to prepare us. It was all so easy, and the staff was awesome. They are so easy to work with and they have all taught abroad so they know how you're feeling before you go.

I taught in Bangkok Thailand, and it was the most rewarding job I have ever had. The kids were so much fun to work with, and I learned so much from them. I met people I will be friends with for the rest of my life, and my weekends were filled with fun adventures all over South East Asia. While I was teaching, I was able to visit 8 different countries, so I was able to fulfill my travel bug and work with kids all in one go! It was so much fun, and so rewarding. I highly recommend CIEE Teach Abroad to anyone! They also offer an awesome TEFL Certification course, and it helped my teaching skills tremendously. I had previously taught at the university level, but this TEFL course taught me so many things I hadn't considered in regards to teaching.

I am so thankful for CIEE. They truly changed my life.

After, deciding to teach abroad, I did some research on companies to go through. I came across CIEE and had really great feelings about their programs offered and their overall dedication to their participants. The step by step process made it so easy to work with CIEE and complete the process of teaching abroad. I have had help from the minute I started an application and I am continuing to hear from CIEE three months into my teaching experience in Thailand. If you are looking to teach abroad, CIEE has been a phenomenal group to go through and I highly recommend them!

I made the decision to teach abroad just a few months before getting on the plane, so overall it was a pretty fast process. I found CIEE online and completed an application in a couple weeks. They were very helpful during the pre-departure time. One of my recommenders wasn’t able to submit their letter of recommendation on time, so I had to replace them at the last second. CIEE was understanding, and let a new recommender submit instead. They also had a guide on how to prepare all the necessary documents for obtaining a visa, and getting the visa documents together did require a lot of legwork. The biggest headache for me was getting my state background check, so if I had to do it again I would just get a background check through the FBI. Also, I had trouble figuring out what vaccines were covered by my insurance, but that was a problem with the insurance company.

So after getting my visa and school placement, I was on the plane to a week-long CIEE program orientation in Bangkok. This was a very, very useful and fun time. The orientation was about meeting other teachers from the program, learning about Thailand, and, importantly, learning how to be a teacher. Especially since I did not have any background in teaching or prior experience as a classroom teacher. I think an orientation like this is really critical for people who have never worked or lived abroad before. There is so much anxiety about living in a different part of the world, with people you don’t know anything about, and also having to perform as a professional teacher. It would have been very difficult for me to adjust to a new life and also be a good teacher, at least at the start, without this orientation.

So now I have been successfully living and working in Thailand as an English teacher for a few months. CIEE has emailed me a few times to check in and see how I’m doing, and I’ve been in contact with them with questions about my current program as well as questions about future teach abroad opportunities.

Overall, I’m very happy with CIEE and their staff. Everyone has been very helpful, understanding, and professional. I would like to teach in another country after Thailand through CIEE, and I feel very confident about it. It’s great to have CIEE’s support, from the help with the paperwork that’s required, to in-country orientation, and continuing support for the length of the program.

I graduated college a term early and much like many of my peers, I had no idea what the next best step was for me. I had read a lot about traveling through Southeast Asia and all of my closest friends gave rave reviews of their experiences, especially in Thailand. I knew I had a travel bug, but also knew that if I was going to delay the start of my career, I wanted to make it meaningful. My opportunity to teach in Thailand went above and beyond my expectations.

When I finally submitted my application (after lots of encouragement from my friends), I did not have any sort of relief. In fact, when I found out I was accepted through the program, and later on given my placement, I still wasn't sure if this was the right move for me. I was placed in a non-tourist destination in northeastern Thailand, and was the only one from the program placed in my city. I was scared and nervous, and still unsure if i should accept one of my pending job offers or commit to this unexpected path. I communicated with CIEE about my anxieties and insecurities about teaching somewhere and emailed every previous teacher through the CIEE community. CIEE gave me borrowed time to ensure I was happy with my decision, and after a lot of deliberation and trust in fate, I committed! And thank G I did!

Teaching in Thailand was the best experience I have ever given myself. From the lifelong friendships I've made with fellow CIEE-ers to the Thai family that was able to develop into members of my forever family and all of the people I met along the way, I am so lucky for all of my amazing memories. While structure is not necessarily a well-known concept in Thailand, CIEE and their partner, OEG, make every effort to help in the transition from a western world into the simplicity, chaos, and beauty of Thailand.

I did plenty of research before I decided to teach in Thailand through CIEE. I'm so glad I did! I wanted a credible and legitimate program to make for a seamless transition into a foreign country. Pre-departure emails were helpful making sure I had everything accounted for, visas situated (via CIEE) and insurance is even taken care of with them.

Once there, the week long orientation prior to going to your schools was a great learning experience. There were several Thai-language seminars and workshops to get you with some working proficiency, plus lots of extra teaching prep. They definitely get you as prepared as possible. Plus, during orientation, you meet all of the other program participants from all over, and you befriend who will be your closest friends and travel buddies for the next 5 or 10 months (or for life).

All in all, I can't imagine not teaching in Thailand, and not going through CIEE. It's truly a great program with great people helping you through it. I urge you, don't hesitate! Take the plunge. It'll all be worth it.

I went to Thailand alone, but with CIEE helping me every step of the way, I felt like I could travel to a new country with confidence. This is NOT a program that drops you off in a foreign country and you never hear from again! Their constant support helped me to easily navigate the application process, prepare me for packing and living in Thailand, and made the nightmare that can be getting a visa, stress free with their step by step instructions and assistance. Once in Thailand, I spent a week at their orientation in Bangkok making friends that I then travelled with throughout the year and talked to about teaching. When I left orientation for my new life in Thailand, my housing was already ready for me and a Thai teacher welcomed me on arrival to guide me.

With the help of CIEE I began my time in Thailand on a positive note, transition smoothly into my new life. I quickly grew to love my farming village, my silly, eager students and created a community of friends and peers. I kept in constant contact with other teachers I had met at orientation, going on weekend adventures and trading lesson plans with them! On my good days and my bad days, it was always a comfort to know that in such a foreign place, CIEE was there for me if I needed help.

I chose to teach in Thailand with CIEE for countless reasons. This was my first time abroad and I was beyond excited for the journey ahead, despite not having a clue as to how and where to begin- I needed help! I was about to embark on something that I knew would change me forever. It’s the best and scariest feeling in the world. I wanted to feel confident that I was getting everything (i.e. paperwork, visa, work permit) logistical completed, and not only completed, but completed correctly and efficiently. I also wanted a personal relationship/contact to ensure I had actual people there for me while being in a foreign country. CIEE has exceeded my expectations. This journey has been nothing short of amazing, life changing, and challenging, and when I hear from my coordinator randomly on a Monday morning before teaching, I know I went with the right program. The people of CIEE make it such a fantastic organization just as the people of Thailand make it such a beautiful place to live and work

I'm sure anyone who's gone to Thailand will tell you they had an amazing time, so I'll just second that. My experience in Thailand was great. CIEE did a great job in preparing me before going abroad, and their on-site partner OEG was constantly in contact with us, and always there to help. Even while we were working in country we'd still receive information from CIEE, just checking in to see how we were doing or wishing us a happy-Thai-holiday.

I learned that teaching is not my life calling, but I didn't regret my choice of teaching in Thailand one minute. The students I worked with were extremely smart and funny. One class would always ask me, "Teacha Jenna, can we watch Mean Girls"? - I mean, how do you say no to that?!

My school was a little stricter than others, so we didn't have many days off, but I still feel like I explored the country to the fullest. I found time to travel to northern Thailand, the islands in the south, and took many short weekend trips to cities 2-6 hours from where I worked.

I'm glad I went with CIEE and not on my own, because it was great having their support during the preparations. When we arrived in country we had a week long orientation which is where I met all my friends and travel buddies for the time I was abroad. It also created a sense of community and support that I wouldn't have had if I would have gone on my own.

If you are considering teaching in Thailand through CIEE I would encourage you to do so. It was a great experience that I haven't regretted for one second, and I know an experience like that won't come around again.

If you'd like to hear more about my experience, you can read my blog from my time in Thailand here: https://jennaleighschumann.wordpress.com/

I had a great experience with CIEE Teach in Thailand. From my initial questions pre-departure, to ongoing support throughout my time abroad, to the connections I've made with their staff in Thailand and fellow teachers, I was thoroughly impressed.

I was assigned to teach kindergarten at a private school near Bangkok. I had great housing, a great local community, and decent pay. I did find that most other teachers who found jobs on their own were making higher salaries; it is easier to negotiate and "shop around" when you don't find a job through an organization like CIEE.

However, since this was my first experience in Thailand, I was happy to trade a slightly-lower salary for the comfort of knowing I was working for a reputable school, one that treats its teachers well, pays on time, and holds to the contract, and that CIEE had my back if I had any difficulties (which I didn't).

The program provided a week-long orientation before I started teaching in Bangkok; this was a helpful way to adjust to the country and provided some good information. The greatest benefit, though, was in meeting a network of like-minded English teachers to travel with throughout my year in Thailand.

If you have experience teaching in Asia and know how to avoid the pitfalls of newbie teachers, you may want to find a job in Thailand on your own. If you want the security of going through a program, I can't recommend this one highly enough.